About the Israeli New Shekel
The Israeli new shekel is the currency of Israel, issued by the Bank of Israel. It replaced the old shekel in 1985, at 1,000 old shekels to one new shekel, as part of the plan that ended Israel's hyperinflation.
The shekel floats. Israel's technology sector brings in large foreign investment and export earnings, which has tended to strengthen the shekel, and for years the Bank of Israel bought foreign currency to slow its rise. The shekel also reacts quickly to security events and to domestic politics.
The Bank of Israel targets inflation of 1% to 3% and makes eight interest rate decisions a year.
Paying in ILS
- Account details
- An Israeli account is identified by a 2-digit bank code, a 3-digit branch number and the account number. For payments from abroad, use the IBAN, which starts IL and is 23 characters long, together with the bank's SWIFT/BIC code.
- Domestic clearing
- Large and urgent shekel payments settle through Zahav, the Bank of Israel's real-time system. Salaries and other bulk payments go through Masav, which takes longer.
- Working week
- Many Israeli businesses work Sunday to Thursday, and banks have limited hours on Friday. Allow for this when a payment must arrive by a deadline.
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